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Friday, March 29, 2024

Tremendous nuisance

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A Japanese railway operator has apologized for  the “tremendous nuisance” caused by the early departure of one of its trains last week.

The train left the station 20 seconds too early. It was supposed to pull out at 9:44:40; it did so at 9:44:20. 

Metropolitan Intercity Railway Co. said it was deeply sorry for the incident despite the absence of complaints from anybody. Nobody missed a ride. 

This would have been just another anecdote about a country so famous for its punctuality and conscientiousness —if it did not rankle so much for its stark contrast to what is happening here.

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We have written profusely about the sorry state of the MRT3, the line that traverses one of the busiest, longest roads in the metro.  As if the numerous daily glitches were not enough, last week a commuter’s arm was torn off her body and an entire coach was detached from the rest of the train.

Inspired perhaps by the Japanese rail operator, President Duterte also apologized to commuters over the ill quality of the MRT; the Palace has promised that there would be better MRT under this administration. 

But more than a year has been taken from the start of the administration. When will it happen? 

Sure, some steps have been taken to exact accountability from officials of the previous regime. On Monday, some groups filed yet another graft case against former Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya for the allegedly anomalous P3.8 billion contract it had entered into for the maintenance of the MRT. 

That contract has since been scrapped. 

Meanwhile, the current transportation secretary, Arthur Tugade, says he would not step down amid calls for his resignation over the shabby service quality of the MRT. 

He continues to enjoy the confidence of the President, the Palace spokesman said.

Tugade himself expressed confidence in his own staying power. Only the President can ask him to resign, he said, and not all problems can be addressed by resignation. He serves at the pleasure of the President’s—no one else’s. 

We wonder how many more mishaps we have to experience before the current crop of transport officials realize that as public servants, they serve at our pleasure, too. 

The next few days will tell us whether Tugade, with the support of the President, can really turn the situation around. At some point the excuses have to stop, and then staying on for one minute longer will just make him a tremendous nuisance. A nuisance so big that even prayers, to which he earlier suggested we resort, may not be able to do anything.

 

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